Friday, July 17, 2009

Pain And Nausea

Last Thursday I started to have abdominal pain and nausea. I thought to myself, "oh boy. here we go again. another stone." It wasn't the intense pain I had last time but it was the dull constant pain that had presented itself before the last stone. I started pounded down fluids to no avail. I have the ability to perform radiographs, so I did so on myself. I didn't see anything. Come Monday I still had pain and nausea. I made a call to my urologist and they sent an order for a KUB (kidney, ureter, bladder) radiograph....basically what I already did. Although I knew it would come up negative, I went through the actions. I promptly left work and had the radiograph performed. I was told my doctor would get back to me as soon as he saw the radiograph and that it was being sent to him immediately. I was patient. There was no call Monday. No call Tuesday. Wednesday comes and I make a call only to hear, "Oh, your doctor is out of the office for another week and a half." You're kidding, right? So I ask if someone else can look at the radiograph. They say, "sure" and they'll have someone call me. No call Wednesday. No call Thursday. I call Thursday afternoon, and am on hold for forever, then someone comes back to the line and says, "It's negative. They'd recommend a cat scan now." Once again, following their recommendation, I tell them I'm open to time and date, but would prefer morning if at all possible. They say they'll call me back. In the meantime I run a urinalysis on myself. Sure enough there's bacteria present. Not to mention my pH is sky high....could be because I'm a vegetarian. Wouldn't it be smart to start with a basic urinalysis before exposing myself to a cat scan's radiographs and cost? They call me back and leave a message saying a cat scan isn't available until the end of next week. Right. I give them a call this morning and basically say, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I really don't know if a cat scan is the appropriate direction right now. Can't we start with a urinalysis?" I went on to explain that I have the ability and have done one myself and gave my results. I also stated that I have a culture and sensitivity running on it as well. They still stand by the thought that a cat scan should be run. But they can put it past the other doctor on MONDAY. So what they're telling me is, even if I have a cat scan (which can't be done until next week anyway) I'm still going to be sitting through the weekend with this abdominal pain and nausea. I've had pain/nausea for over a week and I have yet to talk to an actual doctor or even have an exam offered. In the meantime I believe I have a kidney infection that continues to fester. I have put in a call to my family doctor, but unfortunately I have a feeling this issue will not be addressed anytime soon. Frustration has set in.

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